


Head in the Clouds

by pickelles9876



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cinderella, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 21:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1832638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickelles9876/pseuds/pickelles9876
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel's mother died when Castiel was five years old and now that he's eighteen he's being treated as a slave by his step-mother and step-brothers. He lives a sad, lonely life. At least until he meets a stranger stuck in a tree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Head in the Clouds

Once upon a time, there lived a rich merchant and his beautiful wife. Together they had a beautiful little boy who they named Castiel. Shortly before Castiel's fifth birthday, his mother became grievously ill and died. She was buried in a little orchard full of hazel nut trees.

Castiel was distraught over his mother's death and began to visit her grave daily. Sometimes he spoke to her, sometimes he cried, and sometimes he just sat there.

Over time, the animals began to warm up to Castiel, and by the time he was nine, he was able to communicate with them and they had become his very close friends.

Castiel had a good time living with just his father but he was always able to tell when something was wrong. His father had become a lonely soul after the death of his wife and when Castiel was ten he re-married.

This time he married Naomi, a pretty woman but nowhere near as beautiful as Castiel's mother. With her, she brought her two sons, Uriel and Zachariah.

Castiel was excited to finally have siblings but that soon vanished once he met his new family. They were evil and cruel and treated Castiel as their slave.

They took all his nice clothes and gave him only rags to wear. He was forced to make them all their meals and clean all their clothes. The only thing they left him was the golden locket given to him by his mother before she died. It glowed brilliantly, but only when Castiel wore it.

This continued on for eight long years. Worst of all, his father, being a merchant, was always out on business so he was unaware of all hardships befalling Castiel.

On the morning of his eighteenth birthday, Castiel woke up extra early in the morning to make sure that he has all his chores done. At nine o'clock, his step-mother and step-brothers came down and began eating. About halfway through her breakfast, Naomi turned to Castiel and said,

"Castiel what are you still doing here? Don't you have chores to be doing?"

Castiel looked up at Naomi. "No step-mother, I finished them already."

Naomi glanced up at Castiel with a look of surprise and question on her face.

"The laundry?" she asked skeptically.

"Washed and hung out to dry." Castiel responded.

"The chickens?"

"Fed and eggs collected."

"The floors?"

"Swept and scrubbed clean."

"Good. Once we finish breakfast and you clean the dishes, you are to stay in your room until we call for you. Are we clear?"

"Yes, step-mother."

The three finished their breakfast and went off. Castiel quickly cleared the table and washed the dishes. He rushed back to his room and closed and locked the door behind himself. 

Castiel went over to the window that faced the woods. He threw the window open and climbed out. The window itself was small but Castiel was smaller so he was able to squeeze through. Once he was outside, he looked around to make sure nobody was around. When he was positive that nobody was going to see him leave, he ran towards the woods and the small grove.

Once he arrived at the grove, he was greeted by all of his animal friends. He smiled at them and thanked them for all the birthday wishes. He walked over to his mother's grave and knelt down in front of it. Castiel looked up at the name engraved on the stone and ran his fingers over the letters, the ones he's had memorized for years. He smiled sadly at the headstone and began to speak to it.

"Hello mother," he began. "I'm sure you're wondering how I'm doing. I'm fine mother, my step-mother and brothers are treating me like dirt but that's hardly anything new. I miss you mom. I wish you were here instead of that wretched Naomi. I wish you'd been the one to see me turn eighteen. I just wish you could still be here. I love you."

Castiel brought his hands up to his face to wipe away the tears that had begun to fall. He looked over at the ground next to him and saw a small nut. He picked it up and went around to the back of the gravestone. He dug a small hole and placed the nut inside the hole. He walked back to the front of the stone and closed his eyes and rested his head on top of the stone.

Castiel was removed from his thoughts when he heard the frantic chirping of a young bird. He looked up to see the bird fly through the trees at the far end of the grove. 

It landed a few feet away from Castiel and he got up and quickly made his way over to the distressed bird.

"What is it young one?" Castiel asked with a calm voice.

"There's a man stuck in the apple tree. He's going to fall."

Castiel looked to where the bird had flown through the trees. He stoop up and began to run towards the trees.

The apple tree wasn't far from the grove but it wasn't a well traveled path from the direction Castiel was taking. The ground was uneven and the trees were overgrown so Castiel kept having to push the branches away from his face so they wouldn't him him. It took longer than he had hoped it would, but he eventually arrived at the tree.

The apple tree was one of the largest trees in the entire forest. It produced ruby red apples year round and were delicious. When people came and picked the apples they tended to stay to the low leveled branches as it was too dangerous for anyone to venture up into the higher parts of the tree. At least, almost everyone. Castiel looked up at the tree and could make out the man about a third of the way up the tree. He looked as though he was hanging onto the trunk for dear life.

"Excuse me, sir," Castiel cried out. "It looks as though you require some assistance."

"Yeah, that'd be greatly appreciated right now." He called back, glancing down towards the ground. However, he immediately raised his head and even from the base of the tree, Castiel could see his face go a pale white. 

"You know," Castiel said. "Most people know not to go up that far in the tree, especially ones with a fear of heights. So I'm guess you're not from around here."

"Guess I got a little overzealous. The apples just looked so good. And I am a local, I just don't get out as much as I wish I did."

"Right. Well seeing as you can't look down at the branches below you and I'd rather you not fall and kill yourself, I suppose I'm going to have to help you down. I'll direct where you have to put your feet and you just concentrate on not falling." Castiel told the man.

"Yeah, thanks man. Whatever you say."

Castiel began to direct the man. Tell him how far back to move his legs and place his feet. The man was staring at the trunk, it almost looked as though he was having an intense staring match with the tree. Castiel chuckled softly at the thought.

The man, however, seemed to have heard him and he stopped dead in his tracks and scowled. 

"What's so funny?" He demanded.

"Oh it's nothing," Castiel responded. "Just you are very concentrated."

"Yeah, well you would be too if you were trying not to fall to your death."

Castiel laughed again. "Yes, I suppose I would be."

Castiel continued to help the man down the tree and everything was going fine until the man was twenty feet from the ground. Castiel had told him to put his foot on the limb of the tree directly underneath the branch he was currently on but the man had accidentally stepped on another very close branch. It was covered in moss and the second he put weight on it, his foot slipped out from underneath and and he began to fall. The man made a futile attempt to grab the trunk before he fell, but he missed and quickly began plummeting towards the ground. 

Luckily the height wasn't enough to seriously injure or kill the man, it was only enough to knock the wind out of him. The problem was, there were a lot of branches on the way down. It would be almost impossible to miss them all. 

However, just as Castiel had had that thought, a sickening crack rang out from above him. The man had managed to hit his head on one of the thicker branches of the tree. Castiel watched in horror as the man landed on his back, eyes closed and not moving. Castiel began to fear the worst as he ran over to the man, but when he arrived he saw his chest moving up and down in small breaths. Castiel let out a sigh of relief. Not dead then, he thought, just unconscious.

Castiel began to study the man as he lay there. He was young, not much older than Castiel was. He was probably about as tall as Castiel, with sandy blond hair and freckles that dominated the bridge of his nose. Castiel could have sworn that he had seen a man like this before but he couldn't place his finger on where.

Suddenly the sound of galloping horses and the cries of men could be heard coming through the woods. They were crying out something, probably a name, but they were too far away for him to make it out. He waited a minute for the men to get closer and he eventually made out what they were crying out. Prince Dean.

Castiel looked down in shock at the young man laying at his feet. That's where he has seen him before. This was one of the princes of the land. Prince Dean Winchester. The eldest of two sons. Set to take over for his father in the coming year and become king. If he was the Prince, then what was he doing down here in the forest? Better question, why was he down in the forest climbing trees?

All of a sudden, a boy on a horse burst through the trees and stopped short when he saw Castiel and Dean. He quickly dismounted and unsheathed his sword, brandishing it at Castiel. The look on his face was almost feral.

"What have you done to my brother?" He demanded.

So this is the other prince, Castiel thought. Prince Sam stood tall, towering over Castiel. He had brown shaggy hair that he had to continuously brush out of his eyes. This prince was two years younger than Castiel himself, but he still managed to make him feel extremely scared. 

Castiel raised his hands in surrender and began to speak to the younger prince.

"I have done nothing, your highness. He was stuck in the tree and slipped and fell as he was coming down."

"I find that hard to believe, as Dean is deathly afraid of heights. He wouldn't be caught dead in a tree like that."

Castiel could see that Sam was becoming more and more angrier with him and as he was about to start explaining himself, more men burst through the trees. Castiel could see now that if he didn't hurry up and leave soon this was going to become a very big problem.

Out of nowhere, a soft groan was heard from Castiel's feet. He glanced down and saw that Dean was awake and quickly blinking his eyes. He opened his mouth and all that came out was, "A golden locket."

Castiel looked up to see all of the men looking down at Dean. Castiel took this as his chance and turn around and ran straight from where he had come from. Back to the small grove. 

As Castiel broke through the tree line, he could hear the shouts of the men to 'catch him before he got away!'. However he also could hear the muffled response Dean saying "Don't you hurt him, he saved my life."

Castiel continues to run as fast as he could through the snarl of branches and plants. About half back to the grove, the chain of Castiel's locket got caught on one of the branches and broke.

"Oh, come on." Castiel said as he skidded to a halt and stooped down to pick up the pieces.

By the time Castiel returned to the grove, he was covered in small cuts. The animals began to swarm him and started pawing and pecking at him, trying to get him to explain what had happened with the man in the tree. 

Castiel opened his mouth to begin explaining, when he heard the distant chime of the clock tower in the village striking twelve.

Castiel looked up sharply. "Oh no, it's twelve o'clock already? I had no idea it was so late. I have to get back to the house before anyone realizes I'm gone"

And with that, he was off. He arrived back at his house quickly and he quietly slipped through the window. Just in time too, as the second he laid his feet on the ground, there was a sharp rapping at his door.

"Castiel," His step-mother's voice rang out through the door. "Come now, it's time to start preparing lunch."

Castiel sighed but when none the less. He was just glad he made it home before anything bad could have happened. He would fix the locket that night before he went to bed so he would be able to wear it tomorrow. But in Castiel's haste to leave the grove, he missed something new and very important. In the spot where he had buried the hazelnut a beautiful young sapling had begun to grow.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A week later, while Castiel was sweeping the floors, his step-mother burst through the front door clutching a letter. She had a broad smile on her face as she called for her two sons. Castiel stood off to the side and started eavesdropping while he was cleaning.

"The Royal Family," Naomi started. "In three days time, will be hosting a ball and the entire village has been invited. As it turns out, Prince Dean has yet to be engaged and so it will be at this ball that he finally picks his fiancee. Now you boys better go and get your best clothes and give them to Castiel to wash. This can finally be our chance to get into the Royal Family."

The boys quickly ran off to their rooms to pick out their outfits and that left Naomi and Castiel alone together in the room. 

Slowly, he walked towards his step-mother and asked tentatively, "Step-mother, I was wondering about the ball. You said that everyone in the village was invited, does that include me? May I go to the ball too?"

Naomi looked at him and chuckled softly. "Oh Castiel, I don't think people like you would be very accepted there. Not to mention you have nothing nice to wear, only these rags. If you went you'd only be an embarrassment to yourself, and more importantly, me. I will not have you ruining my chance to be associated with the Royal Family. That is the end of this discussion. Now go prepare us some supper and then you may start washing our clothes."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The day of the ball quickly came, and Naomi, Uriel, and Zachariah left to attend it, all with eager smiles on their faces and a stern warning of what would become of Castiel if he did not finish sweeping the floors by the time they returned home.

After he had finished the chore, Castiel decided to go out and visit his mother's grave for a few hours before the three returned. He quickly set off towards the grove. 

However, the second Castiel entered the grove, he saw something new. Behind his mother's grave, where Castiel had planted the nut just over a week ago, stood a tall, thick, hazelnut tree. 

Castiel stared at the tree with amazement and curiosity. How can a tree grow that fast, he thought, it must be magic. 

He glanced up at the branches on the tree and saw a single but quite large nut hanging down from one of them. Castiel reached up and picked the nut from the tree and it opened up, revealing beautiful clothes and also a small note.

Go forth to the ball, my son. But be back by midnight, as the magic will only last until then. The note read. Castiel looked up at the tree and smiled softly. Castiel quickly washed himself in a nearby stream, washing off all the dirt and dust that had collected on him while he was cleaning, and dressed himself in his new clothes. He turned one last time to look at the tree before leaving the grove and heading towards the castle.

By the time he arrived, the ball was in full swing. There were couples dancing everywhere and Castiel spotted his step-mother and brothers standing over by a wall talking among themselves quietly. 

Castiel started when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around and found himself face-to-face with Prince Dean himself. He must have had a funny look on his face because Prince Dean began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Castiel asked.

"Nothing, nothing." Prince Dean said as he tried to stifle his laughter. " I actually came over to see if you would care to dance?"

Castiel blinked a few times before a small smile spread across his face and he nodded his head. He took Prince Dean's hand and he led them towards the dance floor. They began to dance and Dean also began to speak.

"I'm sure you already know this, but I still find it polite to introduce myself. I am Prince Dean but you can leave out the prince part. Just Dean for you."  
Castiel laughed softly and said, "Well okay Just Dean. My name is Castiel."

Castiel and Prince Dean quickly lost track of time and danced together for a long time and when they became tired, they walked over to the side of the room and spoke to each other for the rest of the night.

About halfway through the night, Castiel showed Dean his locket and Dean turned to him with a look of gratitude on his face.

"It was you," he said. "The one who helped me down from that tree. The one who saved my life."

"Yes, it was."

"Then you have my greatest thanks Cas." 

Castiel took notice of the nickname but instead of correcting him, he decided that he liked it.

Soon they were interrupted by the King calling everyone to order. "May I have your attention please," The King began. "You all know why we are having this ball tonight. We are trying to find a fiancee for Prince Dean. He has been here all night and will now reveal who he has chosen. Prince Dean, if you will."

The king stood aside as Prince Dean went up and looked out at everyone. 

"Thank you all for coming tonight. I'm sure you're all very anxious to find out who I have picked, so I'll just cut to the chase. I met the person I wish to marry for the first time tonight. He is very kind and smoking hot to say the least." A small round of laughter rang out throughout the ballroom. "The person I've chosen to marry is that man over there, standing by the wall. He has the bluest eyes and the darkest hair."

Castiel stares in amazement at Dean. Him. Dean is talking about him. Dean wishes to marry him.

"His name is-" Dean is cut off by the clock striking midnight. Castiel is roused from his thoughts and stares at the clock in horror. The magic. Castiel thinks. The magic is going to wear off. I have to get out of here. I cannot let Dean see me like this. 

Castiel makes a dash for the door and runs out quickly into the woods surrounding the castle. The magic wears off soon after he reaches them and Castiel quickly makes his way home before anyone can arrive and notice he's missing. The whole time thinking about Dean and what he just left behind.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Three days later there is a knock on the front door and Naomi answers it. Standing there is a teenage boy that Naomi quickly recognizes as Prince Sam. She quickly flattens down her hair and turns to address the prince fully.

"Prince Sam, it is an honor to have you in our home. But I must ask what is the reason of this joyous occasion?"

"My brother is looking for the one he wishes to marry. He knows he lives in this village so he's having everyone come out and search for him. His name is Castiel, does he live here?"

Naomi stares in shock at the prince for a few seconds before she thinks of a small plan.

"Of course," Said Naomi. "Castiel lives here. Let me go and fetch him for you."

Naomi went into the sitting room where Uriel, Zachariah, and Castiel all were. 

She pointed at Castiel and said, "You, stay here, out of sight. If anyone knows you're here, you will not be eating for a month. Do you hear me?" 

Castiel nodded.

"Good. Now Uriel come with me. There is a man out there asking for a Castiel and you shall now be him. You are our ticket into the Royal Family."

Together they walked back out to where Prince Sam was. Castiel stared at their backs with a look of disbelief and anger. He couldn't follow them and let Dean see him like this. He definitely would not want to marry him after that.

Sam brought Uriel back to Dean, who took one look at him and turned his nose away is disgust.

"That is not Cas. Bring him back to where he came from and don't return until you find the real one."

So Sam brought Uriel back to his house and asked once more if there was a Castiel in this house. This time Naomi brought out Zachariah and told him he was Castiel. 

Once again, Sam brought him back to Dean, who took one look at him and turned his nose away in disgust.

"This is not Cas. Bring him back to where he came from and don't return until you find the real one."

So Sam brought Zachariah back to his house and asked once more if there was a Castiel in this house. Naomi was about to say no when Castiel finally decided to step up and say something.

"I am Castiel." He said from behind Naomi. "The real Castiel. Please take me to Dean."

And with a skeptical look in his eye, he brought him back to the castle, where Dean sat upon the throne.

"May I present to you, Castiel." Sam said.

Dean looked as though he was about to turn away the person who his brother had brought in, until he saw who it was and he stopped in his tracks. Castiel stood in front of him. He stood in rags and was covered in dirt but it was still Cas. He got off his chair and walked the few paces towards Cas.

"Why did you run away?" He asked. "Is it because you do not want to marry me? Because there are a of nicer ways to say that besides running out on them just before they propose."

Castiel shook his head. "That is not it at all Dean. My clothes were magic. At midnight, the magic would wear off and I would turn back into my regular self and I didn't want you to see me like that, like this, in my rags. I was afraid you wouldn't want to marry me anymore."

Dean began to laugh at that. It started off as a small chuckle but quickly turn into hysterical laughter. Castiel stared at him in disbelief.

"How is any of that remotely funny?"

"Castiel you saved my life and then I finally got to meet you and learn all about you. I don't care about what clothes you wear or where you come from all I care about is you. So now that you're here and we have that all settled, I would like to continue from where we left off alright?"

Castiel smiled "Alright."

"Castiel, will you marry me?"

"Yes."

Three months later, they were wed and soon took over as the rulers of the kingdom. Castiel's father came and stayed in the castle when he was in town. He split up with his second wife, who then, as payback for everything she did to Castiel, was forced to become a maid in the castle along with her two sons. 

In the end everything turned out alright for Castiel. He lived happily ever after with his new family and he couldn't have asked for anything more.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this story for my world lit class. I ran out of time at the end of it so if it seems sort of rushed that's why.


End file.
